THE FLOOD IN PENNSYLVANIA
TRAINS IN NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA TIED UP--MEADVILLE
SUBMERGED--SHENANGO VALLEY IN DISTRESS--PANIC IN NEW CASTLE--BEAVER
RIVER AT FLOOD--THE RISING ALLEGHENY AT WARREN--FEARS OF OIL
CITY--GRAVE SITUATION OF PITTSBURGH.
Many dead, hundreds ill, thousands homeless, and many millions of
dollars' worth of property destroyed--such was the record of the flood
in the Keystone State.
By Tuesday, March 25th, railroad travel in northwestern Pennsylvania was
seriously tied up on account of washouts, due to recent rains. Corry
became the western terminal of the Erie Railroad, trains west of Corry
being abandoned. Between Corry and Titusville were four washouts, tying
up the Pennsylvania Railroad.
MEADVILLE SUBMERGED
In Meadville the situation was even worse. Once again Mill Run and
Neason's Run, combined with the floods of French and Cussewago Creeks,
overflowed the city.
With the exception of a few of the high sections, the entire city was
under water, which in some sections reached to the second story of
homes. Business places on lower Chestnut, Water, Market and South Main
Streets and Park Avenue were submerged, water running through the main
rooms of the hotels and other business places. The waters had a clear
sweep of nearly half of the city, and never before had the four streams
combined for such a gambol.
SHENANGO VALLEY IN DISTRESS
Throughout the Shenango Valley hundreds of families were imprisoned in
their homes and frantic efforts were made to rescue the marooned persons
from their dangerous positions. At Sharon the greatest flood in the
history of the city was experienced. Thousands of persons were thrown
out of employment and the property loss was enormous. The entire town
was inundated and a dozen or more bridges were wrecked. The loss of the
United States Steel Corporation at Farrel, a suburb, was estimated at
$200,000.
The torrent swept swiftly upon Sharon. The crest reached a height of
fifty feet. The released wall of water, gathering buildings, stacks of
lumber, hundreds of logs and a mass of debris in its van as a giant
battering ram, rolled like a giant hoop into the center of the thriving
milling town. It followed the course of the Shenango, which bisects the
city.
After the flood unsuccessfully rammed the double line of steel buildings
the torrent passed further to the center of the city. One pier of a
concrete bridge, erected two years before, which spans Silver and
Porter Streets, cracked off like a matchstick. The impact carried the
block of concrete, weighing several tons, for a distance of a quarter of
a mile.
Fire added to the terror of the flood when Wishart's planing mill, on
Railroad Street, was discovered to be in flames Tuesday afternoon. The
steamers of the fire companies could not be taken close enough to pump
water from the swollen Shenango. There was only one recourse--to take
the supply of drinking water in the city's reservoir or permit the fire
to burn and possibly jeopardize all the wooden buildings within a radius
of a mile. Sharonites actually cheered the firemen as they saw their
drinking water vanish.
PANIC IN NEW CASTLE
The flood waters of the Shenango caused great distress in New Castle and
near-by places. The water put the lighting plants and the city water
station out of commission. Fifteen hundred homes were submerged.
Thousands had to flee.
BEAVER RIVER AT FLOOD
The Beaver River rose high and the entire valley from the Ohio River
north was flooded. The towns of New Brighton, Fallston and Beaver Falls
suffered most, and there was some damage at Rochester. Traffic on the
railroads was suspended at daybreak, and not a trolley car was running
in the valley.
THE RISING ALLEGHENY AT WARREN
At Warren and points all down the length of the Allegheny River to
Pittsburgh, flood conditions were still more serious.
For Warren itself the worst was feared. Hourly the flood situation grew
worse. On Wednesday the water was rising at the rate of four inches an
hour. The river threatened to cut a new channel through the south side
of the city and scores of men were piling up sandbags to prevent this.
[Illustration: MAP SHOWING SOME OF THE PRINCIPAL CITIES AND TOWNS IN
WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA THAT WERE FLOODED]
Captain U. G. Lyons assumed charge of the situation, and under his
direction a life raft composed of barrels was made and launched in the
Allegheny River. Thanks to the raft, not one life was lost from among
the many who floated down the stream on debris.
FEARS OF OIL CITY
Oil City, on Oil Creek near its entrance to the Allegheny River, was in
a serious plight. Oil Creek overflowed its banks and covered the portion
of town that was devastated by the great fire and flood of 1892.
The town was in a condition bordering on panic and business was
suspended. More than seventy-five persons were removed from their homes
in wagons, the water being from five to six feet deep. Railroads
suffered heavily.
Newspapers and industrial plants at Oil City were shut down because of
flooded power rooms. Fires were prohibited and railroad locomotives were
ordered to extinguish their fires to avoid any danger of igniting the
oil.
GIRL DROWNED AT FRANKLIN
One death and extensive property damage were caused in the vicinity of
Franklin by the flooded condition of the Allegheny River and French
Creek.
Every one in the flooded district was ordered to extinguish all fires,
as benzine from the Titusville refineries was floating on the rising
waters.
GRAVE SITUATION OF PITTSBURGH
In Pittsburgh the flood situation became serious by the evening of March
26th, and continued to grow rapidly worse. The gauge at Point Bridge
shewed twenty-six feet at eight o'clock, four feet above the danger
point, and the rivers were rising steadily. Rain was falling throughout
the western watershed, and every stream in western Pennsylvania assumed
the proportions of a raging torrent.
In the Pittsburgh district 100,000 were idle, the workmen having been
driven from the manufacturing plants by high waters. Ten miles of
streets were converted into canals. In parts of the North Side the
streets were under twelve feet of water. The policeboats patrolled the
flooded district, carrying coal and food to families marooned in the
upper floors of their homes.
Pittsburgh's suburbs down the Ohio were all partly inundated. Ambridge,
Woodlawn, Sewickley, Coraopolis and McKees Rocks residents were forced
to desert their homes or take to the upper floors.
Downtown the pumps were working in most of the hotels, theatres and
office buildings. Business was nearly at a standstill. Hundreds of
thousands of dollars worth of store goods was ruined. The Exposition
Music Hall was holding four feet of water.
No trains were running to the flooded regions. At least a score of
railroad bridges had been destroyed, and miles of tracks carried away.
The railroad damage contributed largely to the estimated total damage of
$50,000,000.
TOLL OF THE FLOOD AT SHAMOKIN
In Central Pennsylvania, especially along the Susquehanna, the flood
gripped many towns. At Shamokin mountain streams overflowed their banks,
and in some instances water flowed down mine breaches and found its way
to the lower levels of collieries. Mine pumps were run to their
greatest capacity to prevent inundations. The Shamokin Creek, in
Shamokin Valley, overflowed its banks in the lowlands and spread over
acres of ground on either side of the creek channel.
COLUMBIA AND MARIETTA FLOODED
More than three inches of water fell at Columbia in a period of
twenty-four hours. All the streams overflowed and much damage was done.
Trains on the Columbia branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad ran through
eighteen inches of water. The storm was accompanied by high winds, which
unroofed scores of buildings.
At Marietta, after a storm reported as the worst in many years, the
flood situation was grave. The river rose high, fields were flooded and
residents on Front Street were obliged to move to second stories. Two
men upset in a boat along the York County shore while after ducks were
drowned.
DESTRUCTION AND DAMAGE IN MINING TOWNS
Many of the mining towns in Pennsylvania were distressed by
unprecedented floods. At Scranton the Lackawanna River overflowed its
banks in various places. Richmond No. 1 and No. 2 collieries and the
Delaware and Hudson "slope" colliery in North Scranton were compelled to
shut down by reason of the water flooding the engine rooms. The Ontario
and Western tracks at Providence and the Delaware and Hudson tracks at
Dickson City were washed out. Water surrounded the Frisbie and the Bliss
silk mills in Dickson City and the girls were marooned for the night.
Six hundred people living on "Hungarian Flats," in the northern end of
the city, became panic-stricken when water broke through the streets,
and, taking their cattle and household goods, they fled to the hills at
Throop.
At Wilkes-Barre the Susquehanna reached the flood stage. The water went
over the lowlands on the west side and Wilkes-Barre was cut off from
many of its suburban towns, all traffic being stopped. The towns of
Edwardsville, Kingston, Westmoor and West Nanticoke were partly under
water. Five hundred families were driven from their homes and forced to
seek safety. The water rose so rapidly that it was necessary to rescue
women and children in rowboats. Considerable damage was done to
property, but there was no loss of life.
In Westmoor, Edwardsville and West Nanticoke the water reached the first
floors of the buildings. Families were compelled to depart and leave
their furnishings to be damaged by the water.
As a result of heavy rains the water rose high in many of the mines of
the Hazleton region. Railroad men were warned to be on guard for
washouts.
The Beaver Brook and Hazle Mountain mines closed on account of high
water. The mules were removed from the Ebervale, Harleigh and Beaver
Brook workings.
At Shenandoah the storm that raged for two days did untold damage to the
mines. At Kehley Run Colliery the water main that supplies the boilers
with water was washed away and the colliery was compelled to shut down.
The fires were hurriedly drawn, thereby preventing an explosion. At
Bast Colliery, near Girardville, the water rushed into a mine breach and
flooded the workers. It was with difficulty the miners escaped.
Electric-light, telephone and telegraph wires were down in Shenandoah,
and many homes in the lowlands were flooded. The trolley and steam roads
were hampered by the heavy rains, and in many places tracks were washed
out.
Heavy floods caused the entombment of six men at the Buck Run Colliery,
at Mount Pleasant, and a rescuing party worked up to their necks in
water to get the men out alive. The softness of the earth caused the
sagging of a breast, which was followed by a sudden rush of water,
cutting off the escape of the entombed men.